# Do you prefer meerschaum, briar, or cob? And why?



## dls (Aug 3, 2007)

I typically smoke out of a briar, simply because thats what I have, but I enjoy aromatics in my cob occasionally. The other night however, I tried smoking out a meerschaum for the first time (it belonged to a friend of mine). Compared to my briar, I would say the flavor was the same, but the meerschaum smoked a little cooler. I'm now looking into buying my own meerschaum. My question is this, if meerschaum imparts no flavor of its own, and smokes cooler than briar (this may just be my fault), why does briar seem to be the overwhelming choice of serious pipe smokers? To be fair, I've only smoked "mid range" briars so far (savinelli etc), so I would expect the higher quality briars to smoke considerably better.


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## The Professor (Jul 20, 2006)

I smoke out of a few briars, a cob for the rare occasion I'm in the mood for an aromatic, and my two meers randomly. One of my meers is dedicated to English blends. The other is up for grabs. 

All of that said, I'm interested in an answer to your main question, too.


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## SUOrangeGuy (Feb 22, 2006)

I would say tradition and resilience. My first expensive pipe ($50) was a meer and while I love it I know that if I drop it its not gonna survive. A briar in most cases is much less likely to break.


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## GAW (May 25, 2007)

:2Well this pipe smoking thing is pretty subjective but my take is that certain briars- and having little to do with how expensive they were-seem to develop an affinity for particular blends.This is just an aspect of pipe smoking that you sort of discover a few bowls at a time. It will begin to seem to you that a particular pipe adds its own character to a blend - especially if its one you favor and smoke regularly.Cobs and Meerschaums are more transparent and that can be an asset depending on your tastes and experience. I really like the way Cobs smoke and though I have had a few Meerschaums they nrver really did it for me,particularly with VaPer's - they accentuated the Perique - but some might think that to be desirable.I always seek balance in a combination of pipe and blend- I want to taste all the flavors distinctly but also as an integrated whole.For me briar accomplished this more often - they just sing a sweeter tune.As in music its the harmony that makes the melody soar! p Jerry


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## dls (Aug 3, 2007)

GAW said:


> :2Well this pipe smoking thing is pretty subjective but my take is that certain briars- and having little to do with how expensive they were-seem to develop an affinity for particular blends.This is just an aspect of pipe smoking that you sort of discover a few bowls at a time. It will begin to seem to you that a particular pipe adds its own character to a blend - especially if its one you favor and smoke regularly.Cobs and Meerschaums are more transparent and that can be an asset depending on your tastes and experience. I really like the way Cobs smoke and though I have had a few Meerschaums they nrver really did it for me,particularly with VaPer's - they accentuated the Perique - but some might think that to be desirable.I always seek balance in a combination of pipe and blend- I want to taste all the flavors distinctly but also as an integrated whole.For me briar accomplished this more often - they just sing a sweeter tune.As in music its the harmony that makes the melody soar! p Jerry


Excellent post! This actually brings up a point I hadn't considered: that a briars tendency to accentuate and emphasize certain flavors in tobacco may be its biggest asset. I can see where you may want close to zero manipulation of the flavor, as you would get with a meer, but I can also see where a favorite pipe and blend would compliment each other.


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

i don't think he means that the pipe "adds" a flavor. i think he means that if you smoke a certain blend in a certain pipe, over a period of time, they just seem to be meant for each other.
sometimes it takes practice on finding what pipe is best for what tobacco. but once found, you can't stop grabbing that pipe and that tobacco.

i prefer briar, mainly because i'm not "old school"...
i do like meers, but they gotta be good meers, not cheapy meers (which i may still have one that i just don't smoke).

yep, finding a pipe/tobacco pairing is awesome. then a while later, it seems that the pipe smokes the tobacco for you (that's a well broken in pipe).


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## bonggoy (Mar 9, 2006)

Briar. I've only smoked briar and cob so the choice is a little obvious.


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## dogsplayinpoker (Jan 23, 2007)

Smoked all three types and aside from tasting in a cob, I prefer briar to the others. Meerschaum is good for a special smoke now and then and cobs are hard to beat at the price but nothing beats a well broken in briar for everyday satisfaction.


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

GAW said:


> :2Well this pipe smoking thing is pretty subjective but my take...
> 
> For me briar accomplished this more often - they just sing a sweeter tune.As in music its the harmony that makes the melody soar! p Jerry


That is all so well said. You are some kind of poet.


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## IKMeerschaum (Feb 8, 2007)

dls said:


> I'm now looking into buying my own meerschaum. My question is this, if meerschaum imparts no flavor of its own, and smokes cooler than briar (this may just be my fault), why does briar seem to be the overwhelming choice of serious pipe smokers?


DISCLAIMER: We are an importer of meerschaum pipes from Turkey so I may be biased /DISCLAIMER

As someone else mentioned, the subjective nature makes answering the question different for every person. We have a retail store that carries over 200 briar pipes in addition to our meerschaum pipes and I have 3 briar pipes to my two meerschaums, but I truly do prefer the meerschaums.

The reasoning behind my choice is that:

I can taste the true flavor of the tobacco, not the tobacco as influenced by the briar the pipe was constructed of
I like the cooler smoke offered by the meerschaum
I don't have to let the pipe rest between bowls
Since there is no caking necessary, I can switch between tobaccos as my mood dictates with no worry about "polluting the cake"
The downside, to me, is that I have to be more careful with my meerschaums.

I think that part of the perception that "Briar Is Better" comes not just from the unwillingness to change by many pipe smokers but I think it is a remnant from the middle of last century when advertising dollars really pushed briar as the pipe of choice. You saw them in movies, in pictures, on newsreels and in ads. Meerschaum, being such a small part of the market, never really got the same type of push.

Anyway, just my $.02 worth. I too would be interested in hearing from others about the reasons behind their preference for briar.


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## EvanS (Dec 29, 2006)

me & bonggoy - all I have is Briar and a couple sampler cobs. Although i am on the hunt for a Meer...but it's really gotta catch my eye.


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## pierredekat (Mar 7, 2007)

I would have to say I prefer a wooden pipe of any sort -- Mediterranean briar, mission briar (manzanita), ebony, osage orange, etc. -- to meerschaum or cob.

My experience with meerschaum is rather limited, but the one pipe that I have gets way too hot to hold in pretty short order.

Cobs can be real nice smokers, but it's hard for me to develop much of a connection with something that I know I'm going to be tossing in the trash in a few months.

Like, I can remember exactly which pipe I grabbed when we fled Houston for Hurricane Rita, spent 28 hours driving 150 miles, and stayed with friends up in East Texas.

I still have that pipe, and I still smoke it regularly. 

Doubt I could say that, had I grabbed a corncob pipe on my way out the door.


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## Arizona (Jul 19, 2007)

All but two of my pipes are Briar... The other two are cobs. Never had a Meerschaum, but someday would like to add one to my rotation. 

Why Briar? Gosh, just because I guess... That's the way it's turned out. I like the look of a briar pipe and how they smoke.


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## The Pirate (May 20, 2007)

I smoke and enjoy all three. For me it is more a matter of mood than anything else. all of my pipes are dedicated to specific blends. I truly believe that this proceedure enhances the flavor of the tobacco and the performance of the pipe. Even my cobs are blend dedicated. I know that this may seem excessive, but it really works for me.
Ken


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## Alyks (Jun 2, 2007)

I like my cob just cause I can abuse it so much. I can have a couple of bowls out of it in a night and it'll still smoke sweet right down to the end. I don't have to worried if I drop it, cause it's fairly inexpensive to replace.


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## Ultravox (Jan 4, 2007)

I only have one briar and one meerschaum so it's difficult for me to give an educated response on any 'technical' reasons as to why I prefer what I do but I favour my meerschaum. This is probably because of it's ability to smoke what I want, when I want and as much as I want whilst retaining a 'sophisticated' edge and without it faltering. Being on a student's budget, I'm sure you can imagine that I have limited funds to support a regular supply of tobacco as well as a briar for each day of the week. Perhaps if I was financially capable of owning multiple briars then I would vote for briar but as it stands I'm satisfied with my meer.


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## TimB (May 18, 2006)

I recently got a meerschaum and smoked it every day, every bowl, for about two weeks. After doing my research on coloring, my plan was to go for a month that way and then let the pipe rest for a month. 

After two or three bowls I was tempted to post singing the accolades of meerschaum, however I learned a very quickly with this hobby that I am better off letting things ‘settle’ for a while, both in my mind and my palate before committing to an opinion. 

I noticed a curious thing on towards the end of week two, I was really missing my briars. I fired up a Heeschen with some Balkan Sobranie and I could have sworn it was the best bowl I ever had. This is not to say that the experiences I was having with my meerschaum were less than satisfactory, I believe that variety and change is a very good thing and that it tends to stimulate your palate after it gets comfortable with the status quo.

I’ll be honest here I am still very new to pipe smoking and I am sure part of this really pertains more to my own quest to find pipes that I like, rather than the more abstract argument of Cobs versus Briar versus Meerschaum, but here goes:

1.	Briars – I have eight, I no longer smoke two of them. Of the remaining six, there are only two that I absolutely love smoking at the moment, though I periodically do smoke them all. These are like comfort items for me and the processes of filling, lighting and smoking these is effortless. There are a few blends that I love that only get smoked in my best broken in pipes and I feel the richness and complexity of flavor I get from these pipes far surpasses the ‘clean’ flavor one gets from a cob or meerschaum.
2.	Meerschaum – I only have one. Let me state upfront that I find it somewhat unfair to compare all meerschaums based on the one sample I have. It is quite possible that some of my observations are based on the engineering of the pipe itself rather than the characteristic of the genre as a whole. I have found plenty of bliss in the meerschaum smoking experience, I find that my mid range IMP Meer smokes better than my mid range briars. It does smoke soft and cool, though the volume and density of the smoke seems somewhat less than I am accustomed to from briar. I am a tad neurotic about lighting the pipe (so as not to char the rim), to a degree in which it seems that smoking a meer is somewhat more taxing. By the same token I notice some discoloration on the pipe from the oils in my skin, (some suggest you wear gloves while smoking, but that seems far too extreme). These are clearly my issues, but they do influence my overall experience. If you do not suffer from these afflictions, this should not deter you from sampling the world of meerschaum. Having voiced some negative thoughts, I find the experience to be quite satisfying and I have a Peterson Squire meerschaum on order (and I am looking forward to it immensely).
3.	Cobs – the best thing about cobs (outside of affordability) is they usually have a large open draw. I use them, like many others, to sample new blends, especially if I suspect casing or topping. Not bad for a once and a while experience, but incomparable to a mid range briar or meerschaum.


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## dls (Aug 3, 2007)

I'm glad to see that my question provoked some thought, even from some of the senior gorillas . The answers seem to run the gamut, which I find very interesting. It appears that pipe material choice, just like everything else in this hobby of ours, is almost purely subjective. I look forward to gaining more experiene with all three types of pipe, and finding out each of their weaknesses and strengths.


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